Step Up The Plate
by Prevouslyknownasxocrazililkelo
Summary: Camille and her children were still grieving for the loss of the wonderful pillar of their community and she wanted to step up not replace her as the new "Evelyn Mercer', since their will only ever be one.


Disclaimer -I don't know own Four Brothers.

Authors Note- A big thanks to Maxiekat for Beta reading and encouraging me to post this story. Hope you enjoy !

Jerry opened the door to his bedroom to find his wife, Camilla, sitting up in bed. The only light in the room was the shinning bedside lamp, illuminating her long brown hair that fell down past her shoulders. He resisted the urge to scowl at the one piece of clothing men everywhere dreaded seeing a woman in - flannel pajamas. He stripped down to his boxers, putting on a pair of pajama pants himself, knowing that with his luck one of the girls would come in with a nightmare the one night he decides to sleep in his boxers. He slipped into bed next to his wife, pulling the covers up to his chest. "I've been thinking-" Camille said and Jerry stiffened a bit at those words. The last time he heard her utter those words it had cost him a fortune since she insisted the neighborhood they originally moved into before Daniella was born wasn't safe and insisted that Jerry should uproot their family to a safer community. Seeing his stricken expression, Camille laughed." Its nothing bad, baby, I promise," she said, sitting up a little straighter against the headboard.

"All right," he said, turning his to head to get a better look at her. "Hit me with it," he said, leaning back against his mountain of pillows. She bit her lip, as he braced himself. "I was thinking … maybe we should carry on where your mother let off," Camilla said gently. She knew the subject of her mother-in-law was still a sensitive subject to broach with all the Mercer men, but after spending so much time watching Jerry with his brothers, this idea had been tugging at her heart for weeks. She swore Evelyn was trying to reach her from the other side, as if this niggling feeling was her prodding her to carry on her work with troubled youth. As of now, she had a job of being a stay at home mother, but she was starting to feel unfulfilled. She knew she and Jerry weren't rich, but they had the means to support foster children and they had the hearts to go along with it.

Her husband was a product of that life and Evelyn Mercer had saved him. He turned out to be the man who was the love of her life, the father of their precious children, not the street thug or lost soul he could have been if it wasn' t for the saint that was her mother-in-law. Camille and her children were still grieving for the loss of the wonderful pillar of their community and she wanted to step up not replace her as the new "Evelyn Mercer'', since their will only ever be one. "Baby, that's a wonderful thought and you have a huge heart, but …" Jerry explained, not as enthusiastically as she'd hoped and she frowned at him. He wasn't disagreeing with her idea, he was looking at it from a logical perspective. She didn't understand the dark side of taking in a child from the system. He remembered when Evelyn brought Jack home and how isolated he was and scared and broken - and he knew his wife always had a soft spot for his youngest brother. If a foster child with problems similar to the ones Jack dealt with came into their lives, Camille would coddle them and dote on them and sometimes wasn't always the best way to handle a scared child. He sighed. "But being a foster parent comes a lot of complications – paperwork, being able to handle the psychological problems a lot of these kids have, licenses. Also think about the girls. How would the feel about this?" "I want this, Jerry. I want this more then anything," she pleaded with him, her brown eyes turned to him. Camille came from a sheltered childhood of country clubs and private schools. She didn't know how the system works. "There are more children to be saved-Evelyn's work isn't done," she insisted.

He knew he couldn't deny her this and that this talk wasn't over but it was midnight and he was exhausted. "Okay, baby, we'll think on it some more. This isn't a decision to jump into. Okay?" he asked and she nodded, giving him a small smile as she kissed him on the cheek. She reached out to switch the side lamp off before shimming down into the bed next to him, curling into his side. "I love you, Jerry."

"I love you too, Camille ."


End file.
